WASHINGTON - The United States authorised the voluntary departure of certain staff and dependents from the US embassy in Damascsus on Thursday following an attack on the compound this week by suspected Islamic militants.

In a travel warning issued in the wake of the Tuesday attack, the State Department said it had "authorized the departure of dependents and non-emergency employees at the US embassy in Damascus on a voluntary basis."

"In light of these security concerns in Syria, the Department of State warns US citizens to defer non-essential travel to Syria," it said.

The department added that US citizens currently in Syria should "carefully evaluate their own security situations and consider departing."

The embassy in the Syrian capital was closed after Tuesday's attack but reopened on Thursday.

In the attack, at least four gunmen tried to storm the embassy using two explosives-laden vehicles and improvised explosives.

But they were halted by Syrian security guards and the embassy perimeter was not breached.

Four attackers and one Syrian security agent were killed and a local embassy guard and a number of passersby were injured in the assault.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, which Syrian authorities blamed on Islamic radicals.

The State Department said the embassy assault "underscores the presence of terrorist groups in Syria that have the ability and intent to target American interests."

It said US authorities were working with the Syrians "to address these threats and the security issues raised by the attack on the embassy".

Relations between the United States and Syria have been increasingly strained, in part over the suspected role of Damascus in the assassination last year of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri and more recently over Syria's support for the radical Islamic militia Hezbollah in Lebanon.

On Wednesday the White House called on Syria to close down the offices of any "terrorist organizations" operating in Damascus.

"We urge the Syrian government to step up and start fighting the war on terror in a more significant way by shuttering the offices of terrorist organizations who are headquartered or have facilities in Damascus," spokesman Tony Snow said.

He did not specify any organizations, but Washington considers Hebzollah, as well as Palestinian groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad, to be terrorist organizations. All have offices in Damascus.

Copyright © 1999-2006 Lebanonwire^®.com. All rights reserved.